WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said on Wednesday that it was "horrified" by reports that the Syrian government dropped barrel bombs on a displaced persons camp in the north-western province of Idlib, calling the attack "barbaric."

The attack killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens more in the camp near Habeet, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"We are horrified by the reports that the Assad regime barrel bombed the Abedin displaced persons camp in Idlib and the images we saw of the carnage against innocent civilians," State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said. "The attack on the Abedin camp was nothing short of barbaric."

Video posted on YouTube by activists showed bodies lying among olive tree branches littered with shreds of white canvas from tents that had been ripped apart by the bombs.

The British-based group said most of the people in the camp had fled fighting in the central province of Hama.

Psaki said the United States couldn't confirm details of the attack, but said if the bombings proved to have been carried out by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, "it is only the latest act of brutality by the regime against its own people."

"We've consistently condemned the Assad regime's callous disregard for human life, particularly its violence directed against civilians," she added. "We've been clear that the Assad regime must be held responsible for its brutality and atrocities against the Syrian people."